contender

American  

[kuhn-ten-der] / kənˈtɛn dər /

noun

• contenders
  plural

1. a person or group that competes against others to win something; contestant.

   The three remaining contenders for the Democratic Party nomination met for a televised debate.

2. a person or group with a good chance of success in a contest.

   After last season’s disaster, the Texas team needed to convince me they were a contender.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• contenders
  plural

Etymology

Origin of contender

contend ( def. ) + -er ¹ ( def. )

Explanation

Baseball players, boxers, politicians: each is a contender in that they compete or campaign to win something. Contender has a slightly different meaning than competitor, often implying a more vigorous, even scrappier, sense of taking on every unexpected challenge. The most famous use of contender is Marlon Brando's quote in the film On The Waterfront. Brando plays a once promising boxer whose career has been ruined by a fixed fight. "I coulda been a contender!" Brando cried, implying he could have been the boxer whom everyone wanted to defeat.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

contender contenders

In the right hands, it could’ve become a contender in theaters, especially when theaters are lacking good coming-of-age stories.

From Salon ● Sep. 2, 2026

The Rams’ Les Snead found a way to build a perennial contender by rethinking the market as a value investor.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 29, 2026

With Sesko still only 23, he will hope he can maintain that form over a whole season under Michael Carrick and be a Golden Boot contender.

From BBC ● Aug. 18, 2026

His "spoof" contender was making him "look rather silly", Queen Mary University of London politics professor Stijn van Kessel told AFP.

From Barron's ● Aug. 14, 2026

And our three girls romped and played with the heavyweight contender.

From "The Autobiography of Malcolm X" by Alex Malcolm X;Hailey

With a tandem of Leonard and fellow superstar Paul George, L.A. immediately vaulted to the ranks of the NBA’s championship contenders.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 2, 2026

From a new “Resident Evil” reboot from the director of “Weapons” to Oscar contenders starring Mikey Madison and Tom Cruise, here are the movies we’ll be at this fall.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 2, 2026

The Dodgers swept the three-game weekend series against the supposed contenders behind three starting pitchers who will lead off the playoffs yet who would not all be here if Walter didn’t own the joint.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 24, 2026

The UN's most powerful body, the Security Council, meets Friday to hold another straw poll to gauge the popularity of a growing field of contenders to lead the embattled organization.

From Barron's ● Aug. 21, 2026

Few Alpharetta lawns sprouted campaign signs during the last election season because the area’s four contenders for the state legislature and a new candidate for Congress were all Republicans and ran unopposed.

From "Class Matters" by The New York Times

Related Words

• adversary
• challenger
• competition
• contestant
• opponent
• rival